Paths of Desire DISCONTINUED
by Kuroi Inanis
Summary: After the destruction of Trigon, Raven and BB start to fall in love... but what happens when Terra returns? RBB, then BBT, then RBB again TERRA BASHING.
1. Chapter 00 Disclaimer and Song Lyrics

Paths of Desire

A Raven/BB fanfiction

By Sara "Secondary Gemini" Hambrook

Usual disclaimer stuff: I don't own Teen Titans, as much as I wish I did... poo for me. Don't sue, you won't get anything off of me.

Notes: Let me start off by saying that I am NOT a Terra fan. For those of you who dislike her as much as I do, she WILL get hers by the end of this story. For those who like her, flames will be laughed at, pissed on, and thrown to my flame-eating hamster. You have been warned.

I have increased the ages of the Titans, for this story alone. They are as follows (oldest to youngest, as I feel they would be anyway);

Cyborg: 19

Robin: 18

Starfire: 18

Beast Boy: 17

Raven: 17

Terra: 16

On that note, I have also pushed some of the events back – Terra's appearance and then disappearance, as seen in the episode "Terra", happened only days before the timeline in this story. Yes, in the series, they are all younger. I know this. For this story, their ages need to be a bit older.

Currently I am pending approval from Donna P. regarding the use of two of her copyrighted characters. I will continue to post the story, as they don't appear until later chapters, but when it is time for them to enter I will pause the story until I know either way. In that time you should check out her kickin' artwork! )

One last thing, I swear! ; Here are the lyrics to the song this story is named after. Do with it what you will – "Paths of Desire" copyright 1995 to the group October Project.

Paths of Desire

I have traveled the paths of desire

Gathering flowers and carrying fire

Raising a grave to the reasons behind me

Looking for strength as you live to remind me

I'm drawn to you

I'm caught in you

I am the fly who dreams of the spider

The path to the web becomes deeper and wider

I dream of the silk that is tangled inside you

And know that I want to be somewhere beside you

I'm drawn to you

I'm caught in you

In your eyes

All of the promises

All the lies

Will you keep all of the promises

In your eyes

I am crossing the bridges of sorrow

Empty with yearning and full of tomorrow

The river is high and the bridges are burning

I know I've been hurt but I keep on returning

I'm drawn to you

I'm caught in you

In your eyes

All of the promises

All the lies

Will you keep all of the promises

In your eyes

I have traveled the paths of desire

Following smoke and remembering fire

The night is falling, the path is receding

I don't need to see it to know where it's leading

In your eyes

All of the promises

All the lies

Will you keep all of the promises

In your eyes


	2. Chapter 01 Pretend Normality

Paths of Desire

Chapter 01: Pretend Normality

The sun rose warm and friendly over Jump City on that third Saturday in June; and the inhabitants of Titans Tower slowly started to respond to its bright light. Raven, as usual, was the first of the five to awaken. She sat up at seventeen minutes past seven and reached her arms to the sky, stretching out the muscles that had cramped during the last eight hours of sleep. As her arms returned to her sides she ran her thin fingers through her dark purple hair, smoothing out a few knots along the way. Her feet swung out over the edge of the bed and she stood gracefully, moving across her room without effort to retrieve fresh clothing to start the day. The sun glared into her window harshly and she grumbled something sleepily about hating the fact that the sun rose so early, especially in the dead of summer; but that was the price one paid if they wished to sleep bathed in the cool glow of the moon, which was Raven's preferred way to drift into slumber. She was unwilling to forego this calming habit, and thusly resigned herself, as she had done so many times before, to simply deal with the sunlight. As quickly as the thought had entered her mind it vanished, and she made her way out her door and down the hallway to the girl's bathing quarters.

Starfire was not present, as she never was at this hour; Raven figured she and Robin would still be in bed, most likely entwined in each other's warm embrace. That was perfectly fine; Raven preferred the first shower of the morning, as her fellow female Titan had a horrible habit of using up all the hot water and leaving the cake of soap on the floor of the tub. It would sit there for an unknown amount of time, plotting horrible soap-like things, until Raven had the unfortunate experience of her foot finding it before her eyes could. In this case she almost always caught herself, but there had been a few mornings where she would find herself laying flat on her butt on the floor of the shower, her head aching where she had just hit it on the wall and her tailbone screaming from the impact against the base of the tub. After that she was either smart enough to check before she stepped, or make sure she was up early enough to avoid the whole fiasco in the first place. All the same she checked this morning, and reached out to turn on the shower after clarifying that the soap would not be waiting to destroy her, at least not today. Water rushed out of the overhead spout and hit the plaster of the large basin with a sort of clunking noise. Raven raised a delicate hand to the flow of water and held it there until the temperature met her approval, then stripped herself of her leotard and undergarments, discarded them in the purple laundry basket sitting in the corner, and stepped under the flow. The hot water hitting her skin drove away the last few clouds of drowsiness and she reached her hands up to push them through her hair, closing her eyes and releasing a soft sigh of contentment. Her showers felt almost as good to her as meditation, almost as good as falling asleep under the moon she loved so very much; showering was the ultimate physical cleanser, washing her body of yesterday's grime and replacing it with a clean, fresh start. This was as close to pure as Raven felt she could ever become, and she made sure to enjoy every moment of it. After giving herself a few minutes to simply stand in the downpour, water soaking her hair and rushing down her face and over the curves of her small body, she reached out and found the shampoo.

Ten minutes later found her emerging from the bathroom, fully changed and as ready to face the day as she ever felt she would be. She journeyed down the stairs and into the living room, glad that for the moment that there was silence and not the sounds of video games, accompanied by Cyborg and Beast Boy's competitive screams. At times it could be a wonderful relief, seeing them sitting their together, playing and acting like normal teenagers. At seven-thirty in the morning, however, it was damned annoying. Her feet carried her effortlessly into the kitchen and she set her kettle on the stove to boil, retrieving a cup and a teabag and placing them neatly on the counter before moving to the window to perform her morning meditation whilst waiting for the kettle to whistle. She pulled her legs up into the their usual position, her hands going out with her thumb and pointer finger pressed delicately together on each hand while her other finger curled themselves down into their respective palms. She closed her eyes and lifted effortlessly off the ground, hovering perfectly still as her center was found and her familiar chant slipped subconsciously past her lips.

"Azerath, Metrion, Zynthos... Azerath, Metrion, Zynthos..." The world around her started to crumble away slowly and she was left in her own mind, floating in the space between the waking world and the world of unconsciousness. She was content to remain here, smoothing out the creases in her mind until she could spend time with each individual emotion, until the medium heat on the stove finally set the kettle whistling. This was one of the few things she didn't mind pulling her from her mediation, and she opened her eyes and floated over to the kitchen, setting down and picking up her cup. She filled it three-fourths of the way with water and then moved to strain the tea bag out, placing it in the garbage can. After a moment's debating she decided a small spoon of sugar would be nice for this morning's brew and she added it quickly, wishing to journey up to the roof to continue her meditation. Her feet carried her out of the kitchen quickly and up the stairs leading to the roof, and she pushed the door open and broke out into the bright morning sun.

The one sight she didn't expect to have her eyes meet, however, was the sight of Beast Boy sitting on the edge of the roof, his feet dangling down into oblivion and his head bowed in sorrow. Raven stood frozen for a moment, debating whether she should join him or slip quietly back downstairs to leave him time alone. After all, the act of comforting another was not something she was accustomed to, though she had done it before a few times; first when Cyborg's car was stolen and then later when Starfire was having issues with that odd bump on her head. To her, those had been petty, meaningless problems – Cyborg's car could always be rebuilt and Starfire's bump would go away in time. Comforting a friend when they had lost a person, something that could never be replaced, was not an area Raven was neither familiar nor comfortable with. Hearing a soft sniffle come from Beast Boy, her devotion to her friends finally won out over her insecurities and she moved to sit next to him, her face stoic and emotionless as always. He glanced over at her and wiped at his puffy red eyes, his face streaked by tears.

"You're up unusually early today..." she muttered, for a lack of anything else to say, "Unless you've been up here all night, which wouldn't surprise me; you were still sitting down by the shore when I went to bed." Beast Boy sighed softly and nodded, wringing his hands in his lap.

"I couldn't sleep... I just kept thinking about Terra... how she just ran off like that, without letting me explain things... like our kindness meant nothing to her... like **I **meant nothing to her..." As he spoke his voice started to crack and break and he gulped, wiping quickly at his eyes again. Raven stared down into her tea, listening to his words and absorbing everything he said as she tried to collect her thoughts.

"She was... frightened," Raven finally started, taking a sip from her drink, "she felt that if we knew that she couldn't completely control her powers, we'd reject her. So when Robin confronted her with it, she panicked and converted back to that which was most familiar to her – fight or flight. Since fighting was not an option, she chose the only other path she could; she ran. Terra was so used to being shunned wherever she went because of her powers that she was unwilling to believe that someone would accept her for who she is. It's not anyone's fault but her own that she chose to leave; not ours, and most of all not yours." Beast Boy glanced up at her for a moment, searching her eyes. Although this sudden probing of her soul left her feeling unnerved she allowed him to search her, attempting to banish all emotion from her mind and therefore her eyes. Her efforts proved pointless, however, as after a few moment s a small smile crossed the changeling's face.

"Thanks Raven..." he whispered, turning to look out at the city. "I just... she was only here for a few days, but I felt such a connection with her... maybe I should have tried harder to get her to stay..." His voice was choking up again and Raven sighed inaudibly; this was definitely NOT her area of expertise.

"You couldn't of tried any harder, Beast Boy... you made it perfectly clear to her just how welcome she was. She trusted you more that the rest of us; the fact that she confided in you with her secrets is more than proof of that. Sometimes... sometimes you need to let something go to prove that it cares for you as much as you do for it. She'll come back someday, I'm sure of it... she'll come back for you," Raven replied, her cheeks taking on a slightly red tint as she spoke. It was rare that she spoke exactly what she was thinking when it came to any kind of emotion (other than Rage or annoyance, anyway...), and the fact that she had so openly expressed her opinion both shocked and embarrassed her. Beast Boy stared at her in silence for a long moment, obviously just as amazed as she was, and in response to his gaze her blush deepened, her eyes drifting down to stare into her tea.

"Thank you, Raven..." he whispered once again. There was something different in his voice, something that sent a soft shiver down her spine and stirred an emotion within her that was completely new to her. She nodded wordlessly to his thanks and idly brushed a strand of hair from her face, unable to look into his eyes again. Beast Boy yawned and stretched, a moment later laying himself out on the ledge of the roof and settling his head heavily against Raven's leg. She resisted the urge to jump and the blush returned to her cheeks full force, the sound of rocks crashing against each other down at the bayside reaching her ears. She didn't have to look to know that the shoreline was calm and peaceful otherwise, and that the objects involved in the heavy collisions were all surrounded in black energy. Quickly she pulled her hood up to hide her face, staring down at the young man dozing peacefully in her lap. She glanced out towards the city and brought a hand up idly, placing it upon his head and running her fingers through his hair. A soft smile turned up the corners of her mouth and she took a sip of her tea, closing her eyes.

"... you're welcome, Beast Boy... you're welcome."

Raven sat up on the roof with Beast Boy for almost two hours before she gently lifted him into her arms (though with some difficulty, seeing as how he had grown to be taller than her in the last year, despite the fact that Starfire's journey into the past had labeled BB as always being the shortest member on the team. Raven figured that the stress his future self had undergone at first the loss of Starfire and then the eventual breakup of the whole team had been the determining factor of his shortness) and opened a portal, stepping through it and appearing moment's later in the changeling's room. She crinkled her nose up a bit as the sight of clothing strewn everywhere, old take-out containers, dirty dishes, and filthy sheets met her eyes. When BB awoke later, they were going to be having a talk about his sanitation habits. For the moment she was content to lay him on his queen-size bed, which had taken the place of his old bunk bed about a year ago, and tuck the sheets up over his shoulders. He sighed in some form of reply and rolled over to cuddle against a pillow, muttering some random word in his sleep that Raven didn't quite understand. Raven rolled her eyes and shook her head, staring down at him in silence.

"... if you breathe so much as a word of what happened today to ANYONE, I'll make sure to kill you in the most painful of mannerisms..." she whispered, though the tone of her voice hardly backed up the threat her statement was meant to portray. Beast Boy remained asleep, that same smile still touching his lips softly. Raven mimicked it for just a moment before she turned away and opened another portal, stepping through it and appearing moments later in her room. She moved swiftly to the door and secured the lock, sealing herself within and guaranteeing that she would not be disturbed. A moment later she was standing at her dresser, her meditation mirror in her hand. She ran her fingers over the glass, watching as the four eyes of her father appeared in the reflection, staring up at her menacingly. She stared back in return until the hand reached out and grabbed her, pulling her into her mind as it had done so many times before. She fell through the swirling vortex and landed effortlessly on her feet moments later, glancing around quickly before heading down the pathway towards where the emotions lived. There was a new entity to meet.

TBC


	3. Chapter 02 Love Comes in Peach

Paths of Desire

Chapter 02: Love Comes in Peach

A Raven/BB fanfiction by Sara "Secondary Gemini" Hambrook

Notes: Wow, chapter two! That's a lot farther than I usually get with my stories ; personal thanks go out to the wonderful band Jack off Jill, as the song "Strawberry Gashes" has relit the fire of creativity in my soul. Thank God for depressing music!

Below I have placed a basic outline to Raven's emotion; some are as to how they are portrayed on the series, and some are my own personal opinions.

Pink: Known as Happy; representation of joy, carefree, childishness, whimsical.

Grey: Known as Timid: representation of despair, pessimism, insecurity, fear, the need for physical comfort, depression (the direct counterpart to Brave)

Green: Known as Brave; representation of fearless, brash, optimistic, confident (the direct counterpart to Timid)

Orange: Known as Gross; representation of crude, sloppy, dirty, rude, selfish, lazy, inconsiderate.

Purple: Known as Hope; representation of hopefulness, a dreamer, non-sexual desires, longing, faith.

Yellow: Known as Curiosity; representation of intelligence, intellect, knowledge (almost akin to a mother figure when it comes to the other emotions – like a leader, but on a higher emotional level).

Brown: Known as Pain; representation of physical and emotion pain. (Might possibly include a sort of masochistic /sadistic side.)

Red: Known as Father; representation of hatred, anger, rage, fury, violence.

Peach: (my own character): Known as Love; representation of love, passion, sexual desire, sexual attraction.

This chapter took me so long to get out because it's been rewritten so many times ; It was harder than I thought to get her emotions to interact. I hope that no one is disappointed as to how it came out.

The first emotion Raven encountered along her journey was Timid, who as usual was shuffling along quickly with her head bent and tears streaming down her cheeks. Raven had to resist the urge to sigh as the grey-cloaked version of herself spotted her and hurried over, her eyes directed to the ground.

"H-hello, Raven..." she whispered, her faint voice shaking softly. Raven reached out and placed a hand on the other girl's shoulder, praying that Timid's clingy side wouldn't kick in, as it had a tendency to do. Luck was not on her side, however, as a moment later she found her arms full of a sobbing mass of Despair.

"Timid... what's wrong?" She asked, giving in this once and stroking her hands up and down the shaking girl's back; she herself was quite confused as to the appearance of this new emotion, (Raven was sure this was the cause of Timid's tears), and she couldn't fault one of her emotions their own reaction to the situation. No matter how much Raven tried to convince herself that she disliked Timid, she simply couldn't allow herself to live with that lie; after all, this sniveling, sobbing entity was still a part of her.

"W-w-well..." she whimpered, clinging to Raven tightly, "there's a... a n-new emotion... she just showed up today... and... and everyone's going to like her better than me and then you'll like her better and you'll stop needing me around and then I'll disappear!" This latest string of fears sent her into another fit of choking sobs and she bawled hysterically into Raven's shoulder, gripping at her cloak so tightly Raven feared Timid was going to choke her. Somehow she managed to take the girl's shoulders and push her back to look at her, gently tipping her head up so they were eye-to-eye. She brushed a tear from the emotion's cheek and smiled softly. For some reason, the act of comforting herself (especially when that part of her was in a physical form) was much easier for her than attempting to comfort friends.

"Timid, listen... you're a part of me, just as the other emotions are, and I promise that I won't let you disappear... alright? No one's going to go anywhere... and you should know by now that I don't play favorites anyway," Raven told Timid, forcing her voice to portray a calm, almost affectionate tone. She couldn't count the times Timid and herself had had this very same discussion over this very same issue (to this day she was still surprised that Timid hadn't ended up giving them BOTH ulcers over all the worrying and crying she had done when Hope arrived), but her words never failed to calm the emotion down. Needless to say it did and the grey-cloaked Raven nodded, wiping at her eyes in shame.

"Y-yes Raven... I'm sorry..." she whispered, rubbing at her tear-streaked face. Raven nodded and patted her head, then stepped around her and placed a hand on her back.

"You go along now, alright? I'm going to go meet this... new emotion. Where are the others at?"

"They're all at the house, with her... with the new emotion..." Timid replied, looking as though she were going to dissolve into tears again at any moment. Raven nodded and patted Timid's back softly, and then motioned with her hand for the girl to walk with her. She nodded softly in reply, and together the two headed down the path towards the location of the emotions' 'home'.

It was still beyond Raven as to why her emotions chose to actually establish a place of residence within her mind, but she figured that if it helped them find peace and balance, then let them have their house. Usually when she arrived she would find the others lounging around the house, doing their own thing according to whatever feeling they represented. She would enter the house and find the living room, where Gross would be crashed out on the couch amongst a bed of potato chip crumbs and random stains from other items of food, snoring loudly as the TV still played before her. If Raven flipped through the channels, she would have several options; she could view her own life as it was occurring right now, through her eyes, or she could run through any past experience she chose to, reliving that memory once again through her own eyes on this television. Timid could often be found curled up on the floor, watching some past experience and crying over it (that was provided that Gross was asleep, which happened nine times out of ten). Of all the emotions, Timid was the one that wanted so desperately to live in the real world, wanted to know and see everything Raven did as Raven and not as this separate person within. Brave would be in her designated room, beating the snot out of some inanimate object (usually a punching bag). When she wasn't there, she was picking fun at Timid, seeing how long it would take her to make the emotion cry. The longest Timid had lasted was a whopping three minutes and forty-two seconds (usually all it would take was a random comment from her counterpart to send her into a fit of sobs). Happy would be walking around aimlessly, humming some song that Raven had heard on Cyborg's car radio or in the pizza parlor while eating her dinner. Hope was almost impossible to locate, so Raven honestly had no clue as to what the girl was doing. One could only assume she was off in the house somewhere, day dreaming. Curiosity would be in the library, looking through the books that comprised Raven's knowledge and past experiences. Whenever Brave made Timid cry she could be found with Curiosity, sitting on the floor next to her with her head rested on her hip. Curiosity was really the only emotion that would put up with this fragile side of Raven, which was mainly where her motherly side kicked in. Pain was always out and Raven had only ever seen her once or twice that she could remember; she was a recluse and often stayed away from the others at all cost, slinking off into the shadows somewhere in Raven's mind to think masochistic thoughts. Finally, her Father was sealed off in a secret corner of her mind, locked away tightly so that only the barest threads of Hatred could reach Raven at one time. With the other emotions, too large of a disturbance could indeed so awaken that part of her; but at least she could afford to feel little bits and pieces of emotion without releasing her Father. Anger was the emotion she had to really watch out for, had to keep in check – showing even just a small amount could have devastating results.

Today, however, every emotion (save for her father's emotion, Anger) was gathered outside the house, each taking turns talking to this new emotion that had appeared. Raven sent Timid over to Curiosity, and the girl obeyed and hovered by the motherly figure, watching the others in silence. Happy was in the middle of asking the peach-clad addition to the family what her purpose was when Raven stepped up. Immediately every other emotion fell silent and stepped away, giving their hostess a chance to speak to Peach one on one. They all watched eagerly, wanting to see how this new entity would be handled. Raven looked her up and down slowly, assessing the situation and taking in her appearance. She was lying on her side on the porch to the house, propped up on her hip with her back curved suggestively so that her curvy rear end stuck out behind her and her breasts were pressed forward (was that MAKEUP she was wearing?). She was lying on her cape rather than wearing it, and Raven could see the shape of her own body before her, something she had never bothered to take notice of before. Did she really look that... attractive?

"So which emotion do you portray?" Raven asked her, blunt and to the point. This girl (woman?) before her laughed softly, a smooth and sultry noise that made Raven blush softly for reasons she was unsure of.

"Why Raven, I'm shocked you have to ask... especially with your little display with Beast Boy up on the roof this morning..." The blush increased and Raven narrowed her eyes.

"That doesn't answer my question," she replied sharply. Peach rolled her eyes softly and sat up, brushing a strand of her hair from her face. She sat cross-legged before the others, a mischievous smile turning up the corners of her lips.

"I am Love," she replied simply, laughing as Raven's eyes widened and her jaw dropped, "oh come now Raven, don't look so surprised... you knew I'd come along eventually. Honestly, I'm surprised I didn't come along sooner... and you can deny it all you'd like, but you know how you feel for Garfield, deep down inside... I wouldn't be here if you weren't feeling SOMETHING for him. Of course, I've been here since the moment you first joined the team, since the moment you laid eyes on him. I simply lied dormant until the time was right for you to fess up to me. So here I am!" As Love had spoke Raven's blush had taken over her entire face and neck and she now stood at a loss for words, something completely new for her. After a moment she coughed a bit and regained her thoughts.

"Ok... so putting my... my feelings... for Beast Boy aside for the moment... how will your appearance affect Father? Even if you're here, you must know by now that I'll have to repress you... I can't afford to show you, no matter how much I want to..." Love gave another smile and slid off the porch, moving over to Raven until they were face to face.

"I am the final core emotion, Raven... and now that you have obtained all of us, your father will start to stir... his power grows stronger with every emotion you gain, I'm sure you've noticed that by now. Soon will come a time when he will awaken and you will be unable to seal him away again." Raven's eyes widened in horror at Love's words and around her the other emotions started to talk amongst themselves softly. Timid starting crying, Brave snapped at her to shut her mouth, Curiosity scolded Brave, Gross grunted something under her breath that no one caught, and the others all muttered softly to each other.

"But... if Father awakens, the world will be destroyed! I've worked so hard to keep him in check, are you telling me it was all for nothing?!" she screamed. All talking stopped immediately as seven pairs of shocked eyes turned to look at their hostess. Raven rarely showed anything other than apathy, so for her to have an outburst like that was extremely rare and almost always meant that something was very, very wrong. Love simply smiled softly and reached out to place a hand on Raven's shoulder.

"I wasn't finished..." she whispered softly, "when he awakens, you will have to fight him. If you are victorious in bringing him down, your Anger side will be separated from the essence of your Father. He will be banished from you and your emotions will combine... making you a full person. You will be able to feel everything without suffering the consequences of your Father's awakening; granted that some things will still blow up if you show too much feeling, but that is a cause of the different spiritual boundaries of this world in comparison to Azerath."

By the time she was done speaking, every emotion in her body was talking loudly and rapidly. Combination?! That would mean they would see the world! They would be Raven, and Raven would be them... it would be what every emotion had secretly hoped for, but only Timid had expressed. Raven gulped, feeling a strange mix of excitement and fear welling up in her chest. To be whole, to FEEL things, like a normal person... to finally be free of her father and the constant barriers she had to put up. It was... the most wonderful thought in the world. Hope lifted her head and smiled softly, and Happy did a dance of glee. Timid, who would usually be automatically looking at the pessimistic side of this equation, didn't have much to say about it at this moment.

"But... he was so hard to beat... how can I defeat him again? Last time I had Beast Boy and Cyborg to help me out..." she replied softly. Love smiled.

"Garfield will be here... and you have me now as well. Some say that Hope and Love are the two strongest emotions... and with both of us here, combined with all the other emotion and Garfield to support you, I have no doubts that we can overcome this. After all, Father is just a part of you; a part of you that we will defeat." Raven nodded and opened her mouth to ask one more question, but was interrupted by the feeling of the ground beneath her shaking. She gasped and struggled to keep her footing, looking up at Love.

"It has started..." the peach-clad girl whispered, removing her hand from Raven's shoulder. "He will come soon... now is the time, more than ever, that you will need to keep your anger in check; keep all of us in check, for that matter. When the time is right, Father will awaken, but you have to make sure you don't do anything to speed up that process. Until he arrives, as much as I hate to say it, you can't feel ANYTHING... absolutely NOTHING."

"So... it's going to get worse before it gets better?" Raven asked, sighing softly. Love nodded.

"Unfortunately, yes... ironic how before you can feel everything, you must feel nothing..." Raven nodded, then turned to the others.

"I'm going to have to stop coming to see you all... just for a little while, just until Father awakens... I suggest everyone prepare for the battle ahead of us until then..." The others nodded softly and Raven sighed. A moment later she heard the Teen Titans alarm go off through her mind, and the clasp on her cloak started to blink. She looked at the others, who stared back at her solemnly.

"... see you on the battlefield..." she whispered, giving them a soft smile before she turned, and exited her mind through the forbidden door. A moment later she appeared in her bedroom. She tucked the mirror away in her dresser, spared it one soft smile, and then rushed downstairs to join the others.

TBC


	4. Chapter 03 Awakening

Paths of Desire

Chapter 03: Awakening

A Raven/BB fanfiction by Sara "Secondary Gemini" Hambrook

Author's note: Um... I suck at battle scenes. No really, I do... so if anyone feels that this chapter could have had a better fight scene, PLEASE leave me a nice comment and I'll see what I can do about improving it ;; if your comment is not productive, I will ignore it.

Alright, explanation time here – for those who didn't read my original disclaimer, here's what's happening in this chapter – I mention Starfire's transformation, but if anyone remembers, Terra came in BEFORE that episode. I basically took out the episodes "Terra", "Titan Rising", "Betrayal", and "Aftershock; Parts 01 and 02". In this story, Terra just appeared right before the start of the story. Needless to say, because of that, she never existed in the second season. Hope that clears up some confusion ;;

Well, with that out of the way, on to chapter three!!

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Raven rushed down the stairs, cape flying behind her. Her mind was working overtime, trying to process all of the information that had just been shoved upon it. A chance... a real chance to be normal! ... Well, as normal as she ever could be, anyway... that feeling of excitement returned and she forced it down into the back of her mind. She couldn't afford to feel anything, and she had to remember that. Her hands reached up and flipped the hood over her head, covering her face. A moment later she appeared before the team, stepping up next to Beast Boy.

"What's the problem?" she asked, staring up at the screen as Robin ran through a few files on the computer.

"Not sure... it just appeared out of nowhere about twenty minutes ago, in the downtown area. It was first reported at City Hall, but now there's no telling where it is now. We can't even tell which way it went, but we do know this much; it's only purpose is to cause destruction... violent destruction." Raven nodded softly and glanced around the room at the others for a moment, her eyes lingering over Beast Boy's face before she returned to her gaze to the screen.

"Let's move! Raven and Cyborg, you take the T-car. Beast Boy, Starfire, you take to the sky. I'll take my R-cycle. Titans, GO!" At the commands everyone nodded and rushed off to their designated locations, leaving the usually occupied tower to sit and watch silently over the city.

Raven stared quietly out the window as Cyborg sped towards downtown. Above them Beast Boy soared in the form of an eagle, and ahead of them Robin rode his cycle with Starfire flying at his side. The two had finally admitted their feelings for each other shortly after Starfire went through her (rather traumatic, at least to her) transformation. Since then they were inseparable – everywhere one went, the other had to go, or they just simply couldn't function (let it be noted that at this point, Raven rolled her eyes). Star had moved into Robin's bedroom a few months after they got together, a change that had forced Raven to put a sound barrier up around her room. Two years later everyone was more that adjusted to the couple, and life flowed along smoothly.

Raven glanced out the window at Beast Boy, who had dropped down to soar next to the car. He spotted her staring at him and winked one eye, still managing to give her that goofy smile even in the form of a bird. Raven's cheeks became warm and she looked away quickly, forcing Love down into the deepest regions of her subconscious. After a moment she took a deep breath and opened the window, unbuckling her safety belt and levitating out the window to join Beast Boy. He looked surprised, to say the least, glancing over at her with wide eyes.

"Don't say anything; we don't have much time, and there's something you need to know..." she told him, motioning for them to fly higher. Beast Boy did as requested without any objection, and they increased their elevation by almost 20 feet before Raven was willing to speak.

"Listen to me and listen well, Garfield... because I only have the time and ability to say this once," she whispered, closing her eyes for just a moment and taking a deep breath, "I'm going to be forced into a battle soon... a battle against my father, only this time it will be much, much harder to defeat him. I'll have all my emotions to help, and I've become stronger both physically and mentally since the last time I fought him... but I have to remember that because he is technically a part of me, as I grew he did as well. I... I'm going to need your help, Garfield... I can't handle this fight alone, and out of the others, I trust you the most. Will you help me? Please?" When she finally finished she was staring straight ahead, almost afraid of looking at him. They arrived at City Hall and landed, and Beast Boy returned to his normal form.

"Do you even have to ask, Raven? Of course I'll help you..." he told her, reaching out to touch her shoulder. Raven nodded and spared him a soft smile.

"One more thing..." she whispered, "until the time comes when I have to fight, I can't afford to feel ANYTHING... so I need you to help me keep my emotions in check..." He nodded and squeezed her shoulder gently.

"I'll help you any way that I can..." he replied, glancing over at the others as they arrived. He removed his hand from her shoulder and motioned for her to follow as ge joined them.

"I see the damage... but which direction did the monster go?" Robin questioned, looking around in confusion. Cyborg shrugged and mimicked Robin's actions, glancing around.

"Perhaps we should investigate inside the building to see if it will provide any clues as to what has occurred here and where our foe has gone..." Starfire suggested, moving away from Robin's side to walk up to the door leading to City Hall. The others nodded and took up fighting stances as Starfire pushed the doors open.

Instead of being met with an attacker, the Titans were met with something far more horrific; the sight of mangled bodies and blood scattered across the room. Starfire started screaming and Robin grabbed her shoulders, pulling her away from the scene and back outside. The three others proceeded slowly into the room and looked around in shock. None of their enemies, in all the years they had been fighting, had ever been violent towards civilians – and even when they were violent against the Titans, it was only a means to escape and nothing more. Whoever this was seemed to have no goal in mind... no goal other than to murder... Raven looked around the room slowly, biting back on the disgust that wanted to rise as vomit in her throat. She needed a clue... and clue as to why someone would do this... everyone had some motive, after all. As she rose into the air and floated above the carnage, her eyes spotted something on the wall; words scrawled sloppily in blood.

Azerathian... that's Azerathian!her mind screamed as anger tried to well itself up in her chest. She read the words quickly, whispering them under her breath as she did so.

_Upon this eve, the offspring of the demon Trigon and the earthling Arella will fall beneath my hand. By sunset's final rays the Halfling known as Raven will meet her fate and the demon Trigon will be reborn through her physical form. So is declared by Bajaras, faithful apprentice of Trigon the Terrible._

"... fuck..." she hissed under her breath, struggling to maintain her emotionless composure; so all of this... it was all her fault in the end. She turned away from the wall quickly and hurried over to the others. Through the open door she could hear Starfire's soft sobbing and Robin's voice, low and gentle, attempting to soothe her. She turned to her remaining two teammates, her eyes narrowing as she spoke.

"I know who did this... and I know WHY they did it... let's hurry up and find him, before he hurts someone else..." she whispered, turning to go.

"Hold up! How do you know all this?!" Cyborg asked, crossing his arms across his chest. Raven glanced back at him, and a flash of guilt ran through her eyes.

"The writing on the wall over there is Azerathian, my native language... it's a message meant for me. The thing that did this knew I would be here; all this carnage, indirectly, is my responsibility. I have to stop him before he takes more innocent lives," she replied, exiting before they could say more. She moved to Starfire and Robin, glad to see that finally the Tameranian girl was calming down.

"I know who did this; I'll have to explain why and how later, but right now we have to find him, and FAST..." Robin nodded without objection and helped Starfire to her feet, gently kissing her cheeks before turning to Raven.

"Where to?" he questioned as Beast Boy and Cyborg joined them a moment later.

"Not sure... I'll take a look from the air... the rest of you should follow me. I'll be able to sense his presence when I get close to him..." Four nods were her answer as the group turned and quickly dispersed to their modes of transportation. Raven watched them and then sighed, turning to levitate. As she started to lift off the ground she felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned to see Beast Boy at her side.

"Beast Boy... what..." she began, but he gently shushed her.

"I just wanted to let you know that it's not your fault, Raven... none of this is. That monster might be after you, but that doesn't make any of this death your responsibility." Raven blinked at his kind, sincere words and nodded softly, offering a smile.

"Thanks..." she whispered softly. Beast Boy nodded, then morphed into a bird and headed up into the sky. Raven watched him for a moment, then whispered her chant under her breath, and joined him.

For several minutes there was silence between the two as Raven scanned the area, looking for any sign of their adversary. While she looked Beast Boy found himself glancing over at her every few moments, trying to find a hint of emotion from what little of her face he could see. Her lips were set in a deep frown and her eyes were completely void of all feeling. She glanced over at him at some point and he adverted his eyes quickly, unable to look into her eyes when they held no emotion. When he chanced a look at her once again she had directed her attention back to the city, once again continuing her search. After a minute or two her eyes locked onto a certain building and she soared downward.

"There... he's in there..." she whispered, her hand reaching down to find her communicator. She found it and for a moment held it in her hands, as if debating something. Then she flipped it open, opened a line, and spoke into it.

"... I'm sorry, but I'm going to fight this one alone..." she whispered into it, shutting it off and replacing it back on her belt before anyone had a chance to respond. She dropped altitude and increased her speed so quickly that Beast Boy had to shift into a small bug and increase his own speed just so he could keep up with her. Raven dipped down below the buildings and started to maneuver around them, obviously trying to lose her friends in the streets below. A glance over her shoulder led her to believe that she had already lost Beast Boy, who in actuality was perched on her shoulder in the form of a small spider and was simply going along for the ride. She flew in this same sporadic pattern for several minutes until she was sure she had lost her friend before she headed for her destination, setting down outside an abandoned warehouse at the docks. Beast Boy hopped off her shoulder as she rushed into the building, and he morphed back into his human form and stood eyeing the building in silence. It was obvious that she had not wanted them to follow, but why? Why would she want to fight alone? Her friends were the most important thing to her, and the only ones she trusted... why was she trying to make sure they had no part of this battle? He stepped forward to follow her and was interrupted by the sound of his communicator going off. Cursing softly he reached down to his belt, flipping it open and answering it.

"Beast Boy, what happened?! Where the Hell is Raven?! If she thinks we're going to let her fight this battle alone, she's got another thing coming! Do you know where she is?" Robin sounded less than amused, to say the least, and Beast Boy glanced up at the warehouse again for a moment. What did he do? Did he trust her judgment, or did he follow what his gut told him to do? After a moment he sighed, and glanced back down at the devise resting in his hand

"... I'm here with her... sending coordinates now..." he whispered, pressing a small button on the side of the communicator that sent his current location out to the others. He closed it and replaced it on his belt without saying anything more before rushing into the warehouse to assist his friend, praying he wasn't too late to help her... or save her.

The first sight that "greeted" his eyes was another display of mass murder. Though the body count was far less than it had been at City Hall, several corpses still littered the floor. Beast Boy looked up to see Raven standing before a large demon, her hood abandoned to reveal her face and her eyes glowing an eerie white. She was screaming something in Azerathian that Beast Boy didn't understand, and a moment later Bajaras let out a cold, cruel laugh and responded with a bellow of his own, also in Raven's native tongue. He was much larger than her, standing so tall that he almost touched the ceiling of the building. His skin was scaly and dark blue in color, large fangs protruding from both his upper and lower teeth. Hair that was shorter than Beast Boy's sat messily atop his head, and long claws protruded from his fingers where his fingernails should have been. Three eyes stared at Raven as he spoke to her, one situated in the dead center of his forehead and the other two below it, making an almost triangle shape. Neither of them seemed to have noticed that Beast Boy was there, which he was thankful for. Raven's hair started to lift from her face, blown around by an unseen wind as a nearby box was surrounded by a familiar white glow. A moment later it lifted from the floor and hurled itself towards Bajaras, who blocked it easily and retaliated with a blow of his own, shooting a mass of dark blue energy from his hands. It struck Raven squarely in the chest and she flew back into the wall, crying out sharply as she made contact and pain shot through her body. She recovered quickly and flew towards her adversary, two large cranes rising into the air behind her. She lifted her arms above her head in mid-flight and then flung them out and forward with a scream, sending her new weapons hurdling towards Bajaras. He managed to block one crane but was unable to stop the other, which thusly slammed directly into his head. He growled in fury, stumbling back in pain, and sent another blast towards her, which was met directly in mid-attack with one of her own. Each stood their ground and struggled to overcome the other's power, their heels digging into the ground to keep some form of balance while once again the verbal attacks in Azerathian started to fly. Beast Boy didn't have to understand what they were screaming at each other to know that Raven's control over her emotions was rapidly slipping and that Bajaras was the one nudging her closer and closer to the edge. As she continued to lose her composure bit by bit her footing gave way and she stumbled backwards, catching herself with a grunt. She had lost at least ten feet worth of distance and the break in her concentration had allowed his powers to almost completely overpower hers. She gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes, then shut them all the way as she tried to force all her strength into the energy she was putting forth. For a moment her beam made ground and started to consume his, and then he screamed something at her and once again there was a slip. She attempted to maintain her beam, but it was obvious by the sweat pouring down her face in rivers and the trembling of her body that she was fighting to simply keep consciousness. In the blink of an eye his powers completely overcame hers and she was slammed roughly into the wall behind her and held there, her body twisting and writing in agony. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, gasping out harshly as every bone in her body screamed from the assault.

Beast Boy stood watching in shock, locked in an internal battle with himself. This was RAVEN'S fight, and he knew that she would NOT be too happy if he broke into it. However... it looked to him like she was royally getting her ass handed to her, and he would much have her alive to yell at him later than let her die under this... this thing's hand. He could hear the bones in her body starting to shift, being pushed to their limits... if he didn't move soon, her body – HER WHOLE BODY – was going to break. Maybe if he just waited for a few moments... maybe she'd pull herself out of it... and then the first female scream ripped through the air, and Beast Boy's mind made its own decision. As another scream, bordering on a sob, filled the room he rushed at Bajaras with everything he had, letting out a loud scream of fury as he morphed into a bull and rammed full-on into the monster. Though Bajaras was obviously much stronger than Beast Boy was, the blow caught him off-guard and he was thrown across the room, releasing Raven in the process. She slumped to the floor and groaned weakly, struggling to get to her feet despite the pain in her body.

"Ga... Garfield, no, he's... too dangerous..." she croaked, whimpered.

"I don't care! I'm not going to let him hurt you!" Beast Boy replied without looking at her, morphing into a bird and circling around his foe's head. If he could just keep Bajaras busy until the others arrived, Raven would be alright...

"Garfield! Get out of here, NOW! Before he hurts you! Garfield, PLEASE!" Raven's voice was laced with fear as she finally made her way to her feet, bracing herself on the wall. Beast Boy made a move to look at her in mid-flight; and that was when Bajaras struck. The beam hit Beast Boy square in the back and sent him crashing to the floor with a sharp cry of pain. Raven's eyes widened and her hair immediately lifted from her face, her two eyes closing and reopening a moment later as four red eyes, glowing a deep blood-red. Bajaras, who was moments away from crushing an unconscious Beast Boy under his foot, gasped and looked up as Raven as she started to build power.

_"YES! Come forth Trigon! Come forth and reclaim your rightful spot through this child's body!" _He cried, abandoning Beast Boy's limp body in favor of watching the Halfling. His gleeful look changed to one of shock and horror, however, when instead of changing into Trigon she moved forward, her cloak coming unclasped and falling away from her shoulders.

"Get... away... from him!" she whispered vehemently, her voice a mix of her father's and her own, her own half a smooth blend of emotion. She lifted her hands and released a scream of pure, raw fury as the energy released itself from her hands and shot out towards Bajaras. He never had a chance – the moment the beam hit him he flew back, a harsh cry escaping him as he found himself pinned against the same wall he had held Raven against only minutes ago. His screams increased in volume and agony as she moved closer and the beam started to dig into the flesh of his chest, spraying blood and gore everywhere.

"It's okay if you want to hurt me..." she hissed, her voice deadly calm, "but don't you DARE touch my friends; especially HIM!" The dark energy moved further into his body and he screamed obscenities at her, struggling to move away from her attack. She grinned demonically and increased the pressure, watching with an almost child-like joy as he gave up struggling and writhed in pain beneath her. Robin, Starfire and Cyborg rushed in and were greeted with this scene just as the beam made its way through Bajaras' ribcage and sprayed blood all over the place, including all over Raven. Her grin only grew and a soft, demonic laugh built in her chest and slowly became louder, shaking her shoulders with the force and causing a cold chill to run through her friend's bodies. Robin rushed over to Beast Boy as he finally regained consciousness and helped him to his feet, never taking his eyes off Raven. Finally her attack hit its mark and with a finally scream Bajaras collapsed, the beam having shot right through his back, taking his heart out with it. Another spray of blood covered the goth girl responsible for the assault and she lowered her arms, staring straight forward for a moment before she glanced over her shoulder at her teammates. Although her look was not threatening, the demon part of her gaze rocked them to the core. Her four eyes shut and her hair settled back down around her face, and as the demon side of her receded, for the moment at least, her brow furrowed and her knees buckled out from under her. She collapsed heavily to the ground with a soft moan, her limbs curling under her. Beast Boy wasted no time in rushing to her side, rolling her over to cradle her in his arms.

"...Raven?" he whispered, his voice choked up in horror. Her brushed a strand of hair from her dirty, battered face, and tried again, "Raven... please wake up... talk to me Raven, PLEASE..." For a long moment, almost too long for Beast Boy's sanity, there was no response; and then suddenly her body went rigid in his arms, all her muscles locking at once. A moment later the seizure started.

Inside Raven's mind, all the emotions were in a scrambled state, rushing around frantically and trying to keep things in some form of order until Raven herself could awaken and get to her mirror. Timid stood in the middle of it all, having given in fully to the despair that she represented. She was weeping hysterically and trembling violently, screaming out at the top of her lungs that it was all over; Raven would not be returning in time, Father was going to take over, and they were all going to be destroyed. Brave rushed over and grabbed her tiny counterpart by the shoulders, shaking her roughly and causing her to cry harder.

"SHUT UP! Stop crying, Timid! You're NOT helping the situation! You need to STOP CRYING and HELP US!" she shrieked. When still Timid's sobs continued Brave drew her hands back, intending to bring it full-force across the emotion's face. As her hand came down and around, however, Timid suddenly faded out, leaving Brave to strike at dead air. She gasped and looked around frantically, suddenly frightened as well. The simple fact that she was feeling something other than her designated emotion meant that things were starting to break apart, and break apart FAST.

"...Timid?" she whispered, gulping softly. She turned to look at the other emotions. "Where did she go?!" Curiosity stepped up calmly, giving Brave a gentle smile.

"Timid is still here... but she is part of Raven now. They have become one. It is starting... soon, we will all start combining... when Raven arrives, we will become a part of her once more... we will become completely whole. Now we wait, and pray that Timid can hold Raven's cry for emotional balance over until she gets here... if we all leak into her body before she can return to us, Father will awaken... it's up to Timid now..."

When Raven's convulsions finally halted, Beast Boy once again returned to her. Upon Robin's orders he had set her down, rolled her onto her side, and moved away as the seizures wracked her frail, damaged body. He hadn't wanted to leave her side; only Robin's informing him that holding on to her during a seizure could break her already-weakened bones finally convinced him to let the violent jolts play themselves through. Now he pulled her gently into his lap, careful of her bruises, and cradled her head against his shoulder. He checked to make sure her tongue hadn't rolled back into her mouth and that she hadn't swallowed any vomit before trying to revive her again.

"Raven... come on, you have to be okay..." he whispered, his voice choking up. A cry of relief escaped him as her eyes fluttered open and stared up at him. Her face seemed frozen for several seconds, as if she was unsure as to who she was or where she was. And then, suddenly, tears overflowed her eyes and poured unhindered down her cheeks. She shot up suddenly and flung her arms around his neck, burying her face in the crook of his neck as sobs started to wrack her frame. His immediate response was to grip her to him tightly and smooth her hair down, rubbing her back with wide, arching circles.

"Raven, it's okay... it's okay, we're here now, it's over... what's wrong?"

"Ma... Mirror... My mirror... I need... my mirror..." she choked, unable to get anything else out. He nodded and immediately stood, making his way to his friends.

"We need to get her home, NOW," he told them, making it clear that there would be no objections. They all nodded wordlessly and rushed to the T-car. While Starfire and Robin moved over to the R-cycle and started to put on their helmets, Beast Boy tried to ease Raven down into the back seat. She screamed and clung to him in reply, digging her nails into his back. She seemed terrified at the very thought of being let go, as if she would fade away into nothingness if Beast Boy released her. In the end he was forced to crawl into the back seat with her still clinging to him, cradling her in his lap as they headed for home. During the entire ride her body was seized with constant, uncontrollable sobs. It was as if every last bit of sorrow and pain that she had ever experienced was suddenly coming up to the surface and forcing its way out of her body. All Beast Boy could do was hold her and tell her it would be alright, urging Cyborg to drive faster. Behind them Robin and Starfire followed, both looking extremely worried. The drive seemed to take forever, but finally they pulled into the garage under the tower and Beast Boy jumped out, carrying Raven with him. He completely over passed the elevator and ran up the stairs, coming out at the living room. Across the living room, up the stairs, and into her bedroom took him less than ten seconds. Once there, however, he was faced with a problem – he had no clue where her mirror was. He couldn't put her down because she wouldn't release him, but with his hands full looking for her mirror was going to be next to impossible.

"Hey! I could use a little help in here!" he called over his shoulder, looking around again to make sure it wasn't sitting out somewhere in her room. Robin rushed in a moment later and started to go through her dresser drawers, throwing clothing and other possessions all over the floor. After a few minutes of searching he found it, buried in her bottom drawer under a bunch of cloaks. He handed it to Beast Boy, who sat down on the bed and looked up at him.

"Well... see you when we see you, I guess..." he whispered, giving a soft smile. He glanced into the mirror, seeing the four eyes stare back at him for a moment, and then the hand reached out and sucked them both in. By the time Cyborg and Starfire joined Robin in Raven's room, the mirror had fallen uselessly to the floor.

TBC


	5. Chapter 04 Daddy's Little Girl

Paths of Desire

Chapter 04: Daddy's Little Girl

A Raven/BB fanfiction by Sara "Secondary Gemini" Curtis

Notes: And here we go with another fight scene! Yay! rolls eyes After this, hopefully we'll get into the more angsty, romantic-type stuff!

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The last time Beast Boy had entered Raven's mind, he had landed flat on his rear. This time he managed to hit the ground feet first, still cradling Raven's sobbing form in his arms.

"It's okay... we're here now Raven, it's alright..." he soothed, rubbing her back.

"Your support is nice and everything, but I'm alright now..." The voice that replied to his gentle words came from above him and slightly to the left, and his head shot up to stare in shock at the girl who now stood at his side. He blinked, a sweatdrop forming on his forehead as he looked her up and down.

"But... if you're you... then who is in my lap?" he asked. Raven directed her gaze down to the being cuddled in Beast Boy's arms, sighing softly.

"Who else? It's me, but not me... you'd know her better at Timid..." Beast Boy's eyes drifted down to look at the cloaked figure in his arms. Of course, if he had been thinking (a hard task for him in the first place...), the cloak would have been the FIRST thing to tip him off that he was no longer holding Raven. She had lost her cloak during the battle against Bajaras, and when they took her home they had simply left it where it lay. The pair of eyes that looked up at him now were full of an eternal sadness, and this Raven was clad all in grey.

"Um... hey Timid..." he said, for lack of anything else to fill in the silence, "er... so was that you in Raven's body during the car ride home?" The girl sniffled and then nodded softly, glancing up at her hostess nervously.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered, moving out of Beast Boy's arms to stand before Raven, "it's just... we had to put someone in for you, or you would of pulled us all in at once, and the emotional output would of woken father up... and since I was the most prominent emotion at the time, you sucked me in first..." Raven sighed softly as Timid finished talking and reached up to massage her temples, willing the sob-induced headache away.

"Timid, it's fine..." she finally replied, giving up on her temples and instead rubbing her dry, bloodshot eyes, "I understand that you did it for my own safety... I'm not sure how I'll explain it to the others on the team, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it..." Timid nodded quickly and glanced over at Beast Boy, then back at Raven again.

"Come, we must hurry! Father is starting to wake up! The others are struggling to fight him off, but we're all starting to combine!" Raven nodded and looked to the green changeling at her side.

"Will you help us? Will you... help me?" she whispered, a touch of hope in her tone. Beast Boy nodded softly.

"I made a promise, didn't I?" he replied, smiling, "and I intend upon keeping it, no matter what..." Raven opened her mouth to reply, but a sudden quake that knocked them all off their feet broke in before she could speak. Timid squeaked and scrambled to Raven's side, latching herself on to the girl until the tremors stopped.

"It's starting! Father's waking up!" she cried, looking around frantically. Raven sighed and pushed the distraught emotion off of her, getting to her feet. She looked around slowly, surveying the area, then glanced back at Timid. Her eyes widened as she noticed that the entity's cloak was starting to take on different colors, as if it were tye-dying itself. Timid herself wore a look of confusion, as if she wasn't entirely sure as to what she should be feeling at that moment.

"Shit..." Raven whispered, grabbing the girl's hand and hauling her to her feet, "we have to go, there's not much time left!" Beast Boy nodded and followed her as she took off down the path that led to the home of her emotions, dragging Timid behind her.

They arrived at their destination minutes later, and already things were rapidly falling apart. It seemed as though Timid was not the only one who was going through an odd change. Each emotion had taken on the same rainbow color pattern and all were currently wandering around aimlessly, looks of confusion locked on their faces. Timid (or what was left of her, anyway) joined the others in wandering, and Raven sighed as she watched them.

"Great... this was the LAST thing I needed to have happen... if they had stayed separate just a little longer, it would have bought me some time to regain my energy before I fought Father. As it is, I'll just have to find a way to hit him, and hit him quickly..." she muttered, subconsciously sticking her finger in her ear to destroy an itch. The ground suddenly shook again, and if in response to her words, and she hovered above the shaking and looked around intently, as if searching for something in the distance that was just barely visible. After a moment she turned back to her emotions and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as she lowered herself back to the ground.

"Alright... let's get this done..." she whispered. All at once order replaced chaos; all eight present entities moved to stand in a circle around their hostess, waiting for her next command. Raven stared at each one in turn, somehow still able to decipher each one for what emotion they were. As her eyes trailed slowly over them one by one, the mix of colors faded away and each regained their original form.

"Is everyone ready to be whole?" she asked, giving a soft smile. They all nodded and Raven closed her eyes, lifting her arms up to the sky.

"Alright... link hands..." They did as told, moving in towards her and clasping hands. Beast Boy noticed that Brave and Timid were clutching to each other as tight as they could, and as Brave leaned over to whisper in her counterpart's ear, he strained his hearing to pick up on their conversation.

"You're getting what you want... we're finally becoming whole. Congratulations, you little wuss..." Her voice was not laced with its usual cruelty, but rather with a sort of loving affection. Raven gave the final command and started to rise into the air, the emotions following her. As Beast Boy watched, Timid did the one thing he never thought he would ever see her do; she smiled. The emotions started to spin and twirl around their hostess, color blending into a smooth white. There was a bright flash of light and then suddenly Raven was standing before her friend, her cloak resting on her shoulders and her eyes burning with a new sense of emotion.

Beast Boy stared at her for a long moment, amazed by this sudden change.

"Raven... you..." He was lost for words and she filled in the uncomfortable silence with a smile.

"I know... it's an odd change, but we will both get used to it, in time..." Her voice, as with her eyes, was filled with a gentle underline of feeling – he sensed excitement, fear, determination... all these and more in her still-soft voice. She was so beautiful; she had always been pretty to him, but suddenly... suddenly he couldn't tear his eyes from hers. His hand moved of its own will, coming up to brush a strand of hair from her face. Her eyes changed again, shifting into a shyer gaze as they redirected themselves their stare to the ground. Her pale cheeks slowly gained a slightly pink tint, and his hand slid down to gently cup her chin and face in his palm, pulling her head up so she looked at him once more. He stared to lean in towards her, eyes narrowing down to slits as his lips neared hers.

What are you DOING?!his mind screamed, what about Terra?! Did she mean NOTHING to you?! You had such a connection with her... are you willing to throw that all away?!He paused for a moment and searched Raven's eyes, which were also half-closed.

... and yet... there's something that's drawing me to her... something so strong, so undeniably intoxicating... why did I never notice just how gorgeous she is until now?He licked his lips and gulped, moving closer to her. He had to... he had to kiss her, or he was going to go insane. They were so close now... so close he could taste her breath, clean and sweet and driving his senses even higher than they already were. His eyes drifted shut and for one moment he thought he felt her lips his; and then the ground started shaking beneath them and suddenly they were lying together in a heap, Raven sprawled out across Beast Boy's chest. They stared into each other's eyes again for a long moment and then looked away quickly, getting to their feet as the quake calmed.

"He's waking up... the combination of my emotions must have spurred the final reaction required... he'll be here soon..." Raven's voice was strong, but Beast Boy could hear the fear underlining her tone. "When he gets here, I want you to stay out of sight until I call for you; this is still my fight, and I'd prefer not to pull you into it unless I have to..." He nodded softly and reached out to touch her arm, causing her to jump.

"Will you be alright?" he whispered. Raven nodded and gave him a gentle smile.

"Yes... we've beaten him once before; I have faith that we can do so again..." He nodded in reply and then leaned forward, brushing his lips against her cheek.

"Be careful... and don't forget that I'm here if you need me..." he told her, turning before she could answer and hurrying off to find a place to hide. Raven's hand came up slowly, fingers brushing across her cheek for a moment before she smiled and nodded.

"I could never forget you..." she whispered softly, more to herself than to him. She then turned back to the barren wasteland that was her mind and once again began to search. The ground beneath her shook again and her eyes narrowed, beginning to glow a brilliant white.

"Trigon! I know you're here, so come out and FIGHT!" she screamed, balling her hands into fists at her sides. The ground immediately stopped shaking, and for several moments there was only a thick, heavy silence. Then a large, thundering roar filled the air and the form of a huge demon took shape before Raven, stepping out of the dust cloud his appearance had caused. Trigon glared down at his daughter with for menacing red eyes, his lips pulled back in a snarl.

"No not attempt to fight me, child; you were lucky last time, but this time you will not be as victorious. Surrender now and I will make your demise quick and merciful." His voice boomed down upon Raven, who stood in silence as he screamed at her. When he was done she let out a cold, cruel laugh, her hands starting to glow black.

"Surrender? I'd rather die the most painful of deaths fighting for my freedom and my life than ever willingly give in to you, no matter how much pain it spared me," she replied. Trigon snickered and started to build up his own power as well, his four eyes lighting up red.

"So be it..." he whispered, firing at her suddenly and catching her off guard. She managed to jump away at the last moment and rolled across the rocky terrain, coming to rest in a crouched position, the tips of her fingers pressed against the ground to support her. She got to her feet and lifted her arms in front of her, whispering softly under her breath.

"Azerath, Metrion, Zynthos..." A moment later the energy exploded from her hands and shot out towards her father. He met it with one of his own, and for several minutes they stayed locked in a fierce and dangerous tug-of-war; whoever lost would bear the full brunt of the attack.

Beast Boy stayed crouched behind his rock, keeping a close eye on the battle. Last time Raven had faced her father, it had taken her only minutes to defeat him once all her emotions combined themselves into her. He could only hope that the case would be the same this time. There were a few things to take into consideration, however; first of all, both Raven and her father had become much stronger since the last time they fought. This wouldn't be such a big deal until one took the second factor into consideration; Raven was weakened and wounded from her previous battle with Bajaras, leaving her at a serious disadvantage. Beast Boy continued to watch the fight, trying to judge if he should come to her assistance or not. For the moment she was holding her own ground fairly well, and didn't seem as though she were struggling too much. Bit by bit, however, Trigon's power started to overcome his daughter's and Raven struggled to maintain the upper hand. In a sudden movement she dropped her beam entirely and allowed her legs to collapse out from under her, falling on her stomach as her father's attack just barely missed the top of her head. She rolled out from under it and took the air, dodging skillfully as her father attempted to hit her with quick blasts of energy. She threw her own energy at him as well, managing to strike him twice before he caught up with her and struck her square in the chest, knocking the wind out of her. Immediately her levitation was lost and she started falling, struggling to regain her breath so as to also regain levitation. She hit the ground hard just as she drew in her first deep breath, that air automatically going to the sharp cry of pain that escaped her lips. Her head made contact with a hard, jagged rock and her vision exploded into a swirling red vortex of agony. She staggered to her feet, ignoring the blood running down the back of her neck and the pulsating ache that echoed through her skull as she lifted off the ground once more, continuing her attack. Her most recent injury slowed her down severely, however, and she managed to get in only one blow before she was struck again. This time Beast Boy intervened and caught her as she fell, pulling her quickly over to his hiding spot and checking her over. Her eyes were glazed and were starting to defocus, her skin seeming even paler than usual. Blood seeped slowly but steadily out of the wound on the back of her head, and by the wheezing noise she was making as she took rapid, shallow breaths, it sounded as though her lungs had sustained damage as well. Looking her over now, he was amazing that she had been able to make a second attempt at fighting at all.

"Ga... Garfield... I can't... can't beat him..." she choked, her voice weak and strained.

"Don't say that! You can beat him, you CAN! You did it before and you can do it again!"

"No... I can't... he's... just too powerful..." Tears brimmed at the corners of her eyes and fell freely down her cheeks, and Beast Boy reached up to wipe them away before he grabbed the bottom of her cloak, tearing at it until a long strip came off. He wrapped it tightly around her head, tying it off above her left ear, and propped her up so he could look her directly in the eye.

"Raven, listen to me... we can beat him, I know we can... but you have to believe in yourself. I'll lend you all the power I can... and if you go down, then so do I..." Raven blinked lazily and looked up at him slowly, her defocused eyes searching his. After a moment she nodded softly, wincing at the pain it brought to her head. Beast Boy nodded back and then helped her to her feet, pulling her arm up over his shoulder so he could support her as she walked. She leaned heavily against his side and stumbled along drunkenly beside him, still wheezing in air rapidly. They came out of hiding and Trigon laughed as he spotted them, watching with a great amount of amusement evident on his face.

"Amazing! You continue to fight even though it is obvious you have no chance of winning! Do you truly wish to suffer that much, child?" Raven gritted her teeth and glared at him weakly, hissing out her next retort with a slurred, almost drunk-like voice.

"Fuck... you..." The drawl in her tone struck a cord of alarm in Beast Boy; he needed to get her to the hospital ASAP, or else she wasn't going to live to reap the benefits of her victory. He stopped them a few feet in front of Trigon and moved her so she was standing with her back against his chest, slipping his arms down hers so her hands were rested on top of his own. Her intertwined their fingers and lifted his arms, supporting her completely. At this point, all her energy and stability were in his hands; he was, in essence, her lifeline. He leaned down to whisper in her ear as Trigon started to power up for another attack.

"Channel your energy through me... I'll lend you all the power I have..." She nodded groggily and blinked rapidly several times, struggling to maintain consciousness. After a moment she braced her feet as best she could, whispering her chant under her breath. The power extended out from her body and flowed through Beast Boy before releasing itself though his palms. As Trigon countered and they met in the middle Beast Boy closed his eyes, projecting all his energy into the fight. He dipped his head down to rest against Raven's shoulder, tightening his grip on her hands. He could feel her shaking violently against him, struggling to give what little energy she had left.

"Just a little longer... I won't let you go through this alone, I promise..." he whispered. Her legs buckled out from under her suddenly and he moved with her smoothly, lifting his arms as they fell to maintain the beam's current position.

"Raven! Raven, stay awake! You have to stay awake, just a little longer!"

"I'm scared..." she sobbed, her voice thick with tears, "I'm really scared, Garfield... I don't know if I can do this..."

"YES YOU CAN! Stop doubting yourself! I've never known you to lose faith in any of us, so don't lose faith in yourself! WE CAN DO THIS!" By the time Beast Boy was done yelling at her, tears were streaming down his face as well. Raven gulped heavily and struggled for air, then lifted her head and set a hateful glare on her father.

"Alright..." she whispered, "let's do this..." Beast Boy nodded and threw the last of his energy into the fight, squeezing her hands so tightly his knuckles were turning white. Raven gave the rest of her energy as well, letting out a hoarse scream that trailed off into a sort of gurgling noise. The beam of energy wavered for a moment and then suddenly pressed itself forward with a new sense of power, overtaking Trigon's beam in moments. The bright glow surrounded him and he screamed in agony, writing and twisting as his body started to break. There was a wet ripping sound, as if bones were being physically torn from flesh, and then out of the light flew a being dressed all in red. She made a beeline for Raven and shot into her body through her chest; and suddenly, with a violent convulsion, her soul was complete.

The inward tremor caused Raven to drop her powers, resulting in Beast Boy falling back against the ground, the small goth still in his arms, as post-adrenaline captured his nerves. After a moment he sat up, gripping Raven to him tightly, and looked around for Trigon. His eyes met with the sight of his mangled remains, and a great sense of relief swept through him.

"Raven... Raven, you did it! You really did it, you beat him! You're free!" The joy immediately turned to alarm, however, when she gave him no response.

"Raven? Hey, Raven..." he whispered, gently taking her by the shoulders and turning her around to face him. His voice died in his throat as his eyes revealed to him the reason behind the gurgling noise that had escaped her lips only a few moments previous. Thick, pink blood ran in a thin line from the corner of her mouth down her chin, and the wheezing had become much more obvious. Her eyes were half-open and shifted back and forth as if she were in the REM stage of sleep. As he turned her around they slowly moved to focus on his face, and her lips moved weakly as if she were attempting to speak but could not summon the energy to do so. It took Beast Boy only a moment to take action; he hoisted Raven up into his arms and stood, taking off as fast as his legs could move as he headed for the forbidden door. Her head rested against his chest, rocking back and forth slightly to the rhythm of his running.

The journey felt like it took forever, at least to Beast Boy; every second that went by was another second that she was losing more blood, that she was closer to slipping into an unconsciousness from which she might never wake up. Finally the portal entered his sight and he pushed himself to his final reserves of energy, managing to dive through the door with Raven still clutched to his chest. The last thing he saw before his eyes rolled back in his head and his own welcoming darkness consumed him was the walls of Raven's room, painted a dark purple, and the worried and shocked faces of his friends above him.

TBC

YAY!! THANK FUCKING GOD! ;;; starts singing You got to belie-ieve in the power of love, yeah! Alright, seriously... this chappie came out REALLY good! I hope the other ones do as well. Enjoy!


	6. Note to the fans

To all my loyal fans,

Due to the fact that college eats my life and that the series moved faster than I could write, this version of POD has been officially discontinued. I will leave it up, however, and am currently working on a new version of this story. I apologize to all of you who have been waiting forever, but this version is horribly inaccurate to the series, and I can't continue it the way it is. Thank you for your patience and look for the redone edition soon!

Sahra 


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